Thicker than Water
by SwitchinGeeRs
Summary: After the wars of the kingdoms are over, two young men convince a seasoned general to share his experiences. But are they ready for the implications of the story that awaits them? Alternate History
1. Prologue

**Thicker than Water**

Prologue:

* * *

"Don't you see it now, Deng? I've finally nailed it down, exactly what I want to create. It will be a fitting piece for what we shall soon celebrate, my friend!"

The lad named Deng was patently unimpressed, as, after a moment of half-listening, he went back to noisily, and one might even venture, angrily slurping his soup. The fellow to his right rambled on for another minute or so, absorbed in his one-sided conversation before coming to a conclusion just as Deng's ears had finally allowed the boy's voice to lapse back into perceptibility, "And so, Deng, you will have the honour of aiding in my endeavours!"

At this, Deng nearly choked, which was quite an accomplishment, considering his mouth was filled by a fluid. After an extended pause to allows his throat to recover, he spluttered out, "Aid!? Endeavour?!? What endeavour?!"

"Why, a book. A tale if you will, maybe even a legend," stated the other adolescent.

"You...You! Of all people, you need me, yes, me to help you read a story!" remarked Deng, quite amused by the suggestion. He added afterwards, "You know, Xun, for a smart fellow like you, you can be quite daft sometimes..."

The older teenager, the one named Xun, was quite flabbergasted himself at what Deng was suggesting and hastily corrected himself, "No, it's not that. We'll be writing a book, not reading one!"

"Oh!" Deng said, finally comprehending...or maybe not, "Oh...Oh? Okay...That's just as ridiculous as the last idea, Xun. I have no love for literature; I fall asleep every time the tutor starts up on the classics and man oh man, have you even seen my calligraphy?"

Xun listened intently, then nodded, "Oh, absolutely! It's horrible...which is why I shall do the writing and you...you shall do the asking." Not giving a pause for Deng to wonder exactly what that meant, he went on into specifics and his preliminary research into the miniscule amount of writing related to the subject, which was no surprised, considering his planned narrative was of the groundbreaking variety.

Deng cut him off, "I know folks around here say you're a brilliant fellow and all, but shouldn't something this big wait until we're older. I mean..."

Xun cut him off, "I know exactly what you mean, Deng, but improving the work into a proper scholastic document can be done later on, by me and whoever wishes to continue with it. But the best sources, the people who lived through all of that, they're not going to be around forever. If there's one thing we learned early on due to the wars, it's that!" Deng could definitely not disagree with his argument, one that had hit close to home, maybe even a bit too close.

Deng's father had died in the said wars ten years prior. He barely remembered the man, being five at the time, but he definitely continued to feel the hole he'd left behind in his life. In that, he was not alone. It was why he and Xun had gotten to be close friends, having no other male relatives. Well, not exactly. There was also their older cousin, but he'd been much harder to talk to after the wars had passed. They had both decided the battlefield had changed him.

He listened intently as Xun resumed, noting that he had deliberately paused right there, just so he could make his point stick. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad a narrative at all. It might even be decent, if Xun kept this up. "For right now, all I want is a great narrative about what has come to pass, as something to celebrate the first year of a peace so dearly bought. Besides, in less than a year, I'll be a full adult, get my style name and all that and I'll have fully earned my father's name and gained my own that will allow this work to become truly respectable, and even valuable. The way I look at it, unless some greater calling comes to me, this could just be my life's work!" Xun finished, explaining his motivation. Deng looked him full in the eye, seeing the cold, shimmering stillness of his brown pupils. His friend was truly serious about this one, and in just a matter of days, such seriousness, if he knew Xun well, became obsession.

Deng nodded, "I see there's no sense trying to argue with you about this. This is going to take a lot of work though-"

"I'm prepared to do whatever it takes, Deng. I need you to be as well."

The youngster Deng thought this over, then agreed, "I will be. But only if you figure out how to talk Lady Qiao into lifting her ban on me taking swordplay lessons until I improve my writing-"

Xun laughed, "Hah! You're such a horrible bargainer, Deng. All I have to do is present my idea to her and she'll agree to lift it just like that, especially if I increase my efforts to tutor you in calligraphy."

"And why would she do that?"

"Simplicity itself," Xun grinned triumphantly, "From my research, I have decided that the best man to have as my primary source is none other than your swordplay instructor, and the most convenient way for us to discuss matters with him is right after your lessons."

"I see...So, you'll be there at my next one and we'll ask-"

"No. You'll ask," Xun interjected.

"Why?"

Xun sighed, "You know what happens when I do. That's why I need you." Deng grinned, shaking his head. Everyone agreed that his friend was the shyest person in the palace. He had been getting better at conversation as he grew up, but was still not quite there yet. In fact, he only knew three people alive who he would talk openly to: his mom, the aforementioned cousin, and Deng himself.

Deng decided to summarize their task, "Alright, so you're writing an entire story based on all the stuff he tells us?"

"Yes, that's about the size of it." Xun declared excitedly.

Deng chuckled, "Well, I guess I'll see you at my lessons on war now. By the way, why him? Why General Zhou?"

"Why not?"


	2. Growing Pains

Chapter 1: Growing Pains

* * *

Blades danced in the sunlight as their wielder strode through the coarse sand. A silent figure stood menacingly nearby, glaring at everything that moved. Xun, sitting against a stone storehouse, spent the whole lesson trying to not be glared at, which made it quite impossible to actually watch Deng, or at least follow him. He really had to ask the kid how he put up with it.

"Strike...Now!" growled the watching man, at which Deng swiftly switched from a purely defensive exhibition of parries into a frenetic flurry of stabs and swipes. Xun, not at all interested in this war business and having no clue as to exactly how good it was, decided to judge it based on how much of it his eyes could follow. By those standards, he decided it was quite the fine show.

From the way the general moved, he was obviously not as impressed. "Lord Sun. That was...acceptable... Your defensive style is better yet, your strikes... They are still impatient...You must follow through in everything you do...For a tiger never pounces halfway to its prey...So must you be true and sure..."

Deng clasped his hands together and bowed, "I will try harder, Lord General Zhou. Thank you for today's lesson, sir."

The general suddenly clasped his hands as well, bowing much lower, quite an effort for the tallest man in the palace. "Please, sir," he started, "It is simply Youping... In fact, just plain Tai, if you so wish... No need to call me sir..."

Deng shrugged, awkwardly, "Every other one of my tutors insists upon proper etiquette, at least until my coming of age. It's just...my mind's a bit preoccupied, is all."

"Preoccupied enough to consider me your superior...I am your tutor...No more, my lord..." Tai replied.

Deng pondered this, "It just seems awkward, seeing your age compared to mine, and yet you call me lord." Zhou Tai only shook his head.

"You are the Crown Prince of Wu...Be you fifteen or fifty, I am your servant...Yet, I have known you long enough to see...This conversation...It leads to something that needs more tactful phrasing...Perhaps one that deals with your friend...The one by the stores..." he answered.

Deng nodded briefly, "Oh, alright. I'll go straight to the point. My friend and I...well, mostly Xun actually, want to create a sort of narrative for the upcoming celebration, the one the emperor has proclaimed, the Day of Peace."

"And what does your project have to do with me, sir?"

"You? Xun believes that out of all the people here, you would be the optimum candidate for being his main source on this project."

"Main source...On what? All I know is warfare..."

"Exactly! We wish to write about the Wars of the Three Empires!" Prince Deng grinned, finally being able to get to his main point.

Zhou Tai froze thoughtfully, his calm demeanour dissolving into a slight frown, "My lord...There are better things to write about...Especially for the Day of Peace..."

Deng looked him straight in the eye, "General Youping, you know me. But do you know Xun? Once he finds something he can bring his mind to bear upon, he will not stop? He needs this, if only to satisfy his sheer curiosity."

"Yes...Just like his father...And you...For a second there, I thought General Taolu lived again...Yet let me ask you this...Are you certain you wish to know?"

Deng asserted, "As certain as the sun rises in the East, and Xun is even more so."

"Then tell him to come over here..."

Xun had lapsed into a daydream about his own narrative and it took quite a bit of signalling from Deng for him to rouse from where he sat. But he lost no time heading over to the pair."

Zhou Tai resumed once Xun had joined their conversation, "I will have you note...I am reluctant to share...A private tale...Parts of which are known, to certain different people...But as a whole, there are but two who possess such knowledge...I am one...This tale is about the other...I only lived to war's end...This person, through sheer force of will, made that end..."

Xun impatiently asked, "And who is this?" faintly smiling. Deng knew that Xun probably already knew exactly who the general meant. He was just seeking confirmation of his knowledge. However, it seemed Zhou Tai had suddenly lost his calm tolerance, turning towards Xun, not speaking, and Deng could have sworn, not even blinking for at least a minute straight.

"S...so...sorry...Lord Zhou." Xun mattered, quite terrified by the abrupt change. Tai's demeanour lightened quite considerably as he slightly shook his head.

"The fault was all mine...It was rude of me...To simply just tell the tale...When the person who wishes to preserve it for posterity...Would most likely wish for such in a more beneficial form...Go ahead...Ask your questions, son..." he said.

"Well, actually..." he nudged Deng, "He's supposed to ask. I'm here to take down notes about all you tell us."

"But you forgot to tell me exactly what you wanted to know for this one, Xun."

Xun grimaced incredulously, wondering how he could have forgotten that, "Huh? I guess I did, eh? Well, I'll just ask...Um...how do you...how can I...how to say this...?"

"C'mon, Xun. It's not that hard."

Zhou Tai nodded, "Son...Nothing will ever happen...If you only ponder upon and not speak your ideas...Your father was brilliant...But he was also eloquent...You need to be the same, Xun...It's not too hard...You've already asked me one straight question..."

"Alright," Xun sighed, breathing in deeply, "I guess...If you're going to be my primary source, I'm going to need a background-"

Deng tried to assist him, "You mean like on the book's cover? You should find a good artist for that!" but their thoughts weren't exactly coordinated at the moment.

"No, I mean, a sort of early history of your first years in Wu, Sir Zhou."

Zhou Tai cracked another smile...In one day. Xun believed that had to be some sort of statistic right there, but he couldn't mull this over for long as Tai began, "Ah...Just that for now...That I could narrate without much difficulty...Or pain...You see, Xun, I was your age back then..."

XXXXX

General Sun was on campaign again. Well, both of them were. The Little Conqueror, Lord Sun Ce, was up in the north, where he had almost completed the destruction of Huang Zu. The other Sun had been tasked by his brother to help hold down the Shanyue people of the far South. So far, things had gone fairly well, until now...or more precisely, two weeks before now.

The backwoods country had taken up arms in one final desperate attempt to drive the Han invaders out, or die trying. The fact that the ingenious military governor Sun Ce had assigned to the province was currently afflicted by a vile disease had a lot to do with encouraging this, seeing how it left overall command in the hands of an unproven adolescent Sun Quan.

The aforementioned teen currently leaned over a map of the region, in counsel with the remaining military officials. No stellar names here, all the good men being with the main army up north. Zhou Tai stood grimly in a shadowed corner, just like three of the other guards inside the building. Being the leader of the Lord Sun's guard troops, he had positioned himself in the one closest to Sun Quan. From there, he had simply and patiently stood watch, as the minutes, then the hours begun to fly by.

About the fourth hour in however, his silent vigil over the frantic, almost desperate military congregation was suddenly broken as he spotted one of his men slip into the tent and head straight for him. As the man approached, Zhou Tai nodded slightly to signal the man to hurry and deliver his message. A couple of the generals had already noticed him and were starting to get uneasy. A messenger entering in the middle of a closed discussion was never a good sign, especially one headed for the Commander of the Guards.

The man bowed slighty, and then moved near Tai to whisper. Youping could hear his subtle gasps for air, which virtually confirmed for him that the news was urgent. He barely kept himself from jumping out of his post when he heard, "Sir, the guards have spotted Shanyue rebels. They've broken into the town, sir. Hundreds of 'em!"

Zhou Tai nodded sharply and dismissed the man with a flick of his wrist. Then, he strode right to the middle of the room, beside the young Sun who was proposing a new axis of advance into the countryside, and without flinching when everyone's gaze turned to him, just another teen who this time did not have the merit of royal blood, he simply informed Sun Quan, "Milord, to arms...Shanyue upon us...They have broken in..."

Sun Quan's eyes widened and several other officers howled in disbelief. One demanded, "Why did the sentries only deem to inform us now?" pointedly directing an accusation at Tai, who simply shrugged.

"I have nought to do with that...My guards informed me...They are only stationed in the nearby buildings..." he replied, walking out. He needed to rally his troops and fall back around the building he had been in, at least until the officers had gotten prepared for battle. Considering someone had now decided to launch an inquiry upon whose troops were actually supposed to be posting sentries on the town's defensive walls, he decided that might take quite a while.

He moved with speed, sending a groom to go prepare the Lord Sun's horse while another fellow was sent to grab his armour. Then, he started recalling his squads back from their positions, now vulnerable with some of the Shanyue supposedly having slipped past even them. But even with his efforts, he had managed to assemble only three squads before they were hard pressed by a full rebel assault.

He pulled out his long curved blade, and decapitated the first man who came at him, immediately making the rest much more leery of him, as they unconsciously decided to head towards the other soldiers instead. However, it also made every archer aim at him, a problem which was compounded by the fact that stood a full head taller than the rest of his men. As the wicked wooden shafts started flying, Zhou Tai pulled back, ordering his men to conduct a slow retreat.

After skewering two more men who managed to get past his slowly disintegrating line of desperate guards, Zhou Tai heard shouts and screams to his rear. He spun around to see unprepared men being slaughtered by even more Shanyue rebels and Sun Quan was in thick of it. Zhou Tai could barely see him in the melee, where he stood by his horse, attempting to mount while fighting off a rebel spearman. Then, he vanished from sight, knocked down by a swipe of someone's shield.

The world simply stopped for Zhou Tai. He ignored the men asking him for orders, and even the arrows whizzing by him. He never even felt one bury itself in his right leg. Then, he ran, the shaft breaking of in his rapid motion, brought his blade up and slid right into the middle of the rebels surrounding the young Sun. He stood over the fallen Sun and started hacking away at everyone nearby while the young man tried to recover from the dazing blow.

Blood splashed all over him. Some of it was his, Zhou Tai knew, but in his fury at the uneven conditions of the fight, he barely even felt his rapidly accumulating wounds. That the disadvantage they were now faced with may have been due to his commander's error never even occurred to him.

Many bodies lay around him now and finally Lord Sun had gotten back upon his horse. Zhou Tai cut an opening through the now terrified throng, men who were convinced only a demon could have kept fighting through the injuries he had sustained, and the commander galloped away. Zhou Tai followed him out of town and found the bloodied Quan lying exhausted on a verdant hillside. His horse was now lamed, and it was dying from the injuries it had sustained. Now out of the battle, Zhou Tai started to feel the same. As he trudged upwards to his lord, Sun Quan spotted him. The man ran down towards him and slung Tai's arm around his back, helping him walk.

"Milord, I am not worthy..." Tai began.

Sun Quan shook his head, "Youping, as far as I can see; Today, only you stood up to the Shanyue. This was a disaster the moment I took over. No one could have averted that. But anyone who saves my life is definitely worthy of some aide from me."

Tai was hurting too much. He listened only to parts of Sun Quan's words. Then, he asked, "You...Ping?"

Sun Quan grunted, "Agh, sorry. That meant nothing at all. It was...You know, forget about the name, Zhou Tai," laughed Quan.

Tai was in no laughing mood. How could Lord Sun have forgotten his name when he had guarded the family for three years? But he had no time to ponder that question. His foot slipped on a stone, and he went down on one knee. The world spun around him and he fell, face forward, into soft wet grass, drenched to a dull red, one which abruptly turned into black.


End file.
